David Auerbach, Slate:

Now a harder suggestion: Police yourselves. When an impetuous member of Anonymous “revealed” the wrong person as Michael Brown’s shooter, many other members aggressively and publicly condemned the member. You’ve got to do that, too. When the more infantile and hateful members of the online gaming contingent harass a woman, you should remind them what the actual goal is, and tell them that they’re tripping themselves up. Remember that you’re talking to a child, in spirit if not in actual fact. If you police yourselves, Reddit and Steam moderators won’t have to. This is not an easy task, but it is possible. Self-organizing communities are one of the miracles of human civilization.

Elizabeth Sampat:

I keep using the word “survive” but I can’t help but wonder: is this surviving? What parts of me are surviving? Can any woman escape this whole?

That’s the thing. The truth is, a lot of the women who are being driven away have never met or interacted with Anita or Zoe. A lot of the women in our industry exist in a constant state of fear. Women who make games and would never dream of connecting their face or real name with a Twitter account, just in case. Women who would never go indie. Women who are terrified of starting a crowdfunding campaign but who can’t get their dreams funded any other way, and so their dreams just die.

Are you okay with this? Is this the industry that you want?

An insightful must read from Sampat.

IGN:

It’s Nintendo’s 125th anniversary! Yes,waaaay back in September 1889 “Nintendo Koppai” was founded as a playing card manufacturer. But over the last 40 years or so, Nintendo has grown into one of the most prolific, successful, and beloved video game makers anywhere.

To celebrate, all month long we’re playing 125 of of the greatest Nintendo games ever made. So come on this journey with us, and relive some of our fondest Nintendo-made memories.

I’m having a blast watching through this series. Short Let’s Plays of classic Nintendo games from NES through Wii U. Kick off your binge with Justin David and Tim Gettys playing one of my favorites, Super Mario 64.

Adi Robertson, The Verge:

The threats against Sarkeesian have become a nasty backdrop to her entire project — and her life. If the trolls making them hoped for attention, they’ve gotten it. They’ve also inexorably linked criticism of her work, valid or not, with semi-delusional vigilantism, and arguably propelled Tropes vs. Women to its current level of visibility. If a major plank of your platform is that misogyny is a lie propagated by Sarkeesian and other “social justice warriors,” it might help to not constantly prove it wrong.

I am deeply troubled by all of this. My thoughts to Sarkeesian and those affected by these incredibly disturbing acts of lunacy.

‘In loving memory of video games’ by Chris Plante, Polygon:

They’re my madeleines, you could say, transporting me back to the days my love of video games was personal and private, only shared with the neighbor kids and never ever disclosed at school, where it would have been taken for a weakness. The world has changed.

A beautiful piece by Plante.

Relinking to 1985: Burst and Bloom by yours truly. More reminiscing can be found in Console Wars by Blake J. Harris.